India’s ‘growth’ budget
Narendra Modi’s government presents its first budget since being elected, promising to fix the ailing economy.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley vowed to lift economic growth to 7 or 8 percent within the next three years and to limit the budget deficit to 4.1 percent of gross domestic product, a goal some analysts have called unrealistic.
Expectations had been high that Modi would utilise India’s strongest election mandate in 30 years to take radical steps comparable to the 1991 market reforms that unleashed an era of high economic growth.
In a bid to halt a two-year spell of weak growth, the government announced steps to boost capital spending in Asia’s third-largest economy and reassure foreign investors that they will get fair treatment.
Also,the government said it would raise ceilings on foreign investment in the defence and insurance sectors and loosen rules for foreign e-commerce retailers and real estate investors, but still bar non-residents from taking majority control in projects to supply the world’s largest arms buyer.
But will these measures revive India’s economy? And what will the price be, if any?
Presenter: Mike Hanna
Guests:
Deepak Nayyar- former chief economic adviser to the governemnt of India
Sourav Roy- Asian affairs analyst and columnist with the Huffington Post
Guha Thakurta- author and film maker specialsing in political economy.